HMC Expert: Robert Keller

Robert Keller, PhD, specializes in intelligent music software, programming languages, neural networks and genetic programming. Keller is an accomplished jazz musician and has developed a music notation software program–dubbed the Improvisation Advisor, or “Impro-Visor”—that allows jazz musicians to compose and listen to improvised solos. The free, open-source software was released in 2006, and Keller’s research team continues to develop it.

Impro-Visor now has a growing user community of more than 7,500 around the world.

Keller also held a position at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory for more than ten years, conceiving and participating in developing a language for controlling unmanned space missions that could be used for both programming and model-checking, as well as contributing to other declarative language research efforts. He was also a member of the technical staff at the Aerospace Corporation.